Checkpoint Charlie Museum#Mikhail Khodorkovsky
{{Short description|Private museum in Berlin, Germany}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
File:Berlin-Mauermuseum am Checkpoint Charlie.jpg]]
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The Wall Museum – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie ({{langx|de|Mauermuseum – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie}}) is a private museum in Berlin. It is named after the famous crossing point through the Berlin Wall, and was created to document the so-called "best border security system in the world" (in the words of East German general Heinz Hoffmann). On display are the photos and related documents of successful escape attempts from East Germany, together with the escape apparatus: hot-air balloons, getaway cars, chairlifts, and a mini-U-boat. The museum researches and maintains a list of deaths at the Berlin Wall. It is operated by the Mauermuseum-Betriebs gGmbH,{{Cite web|title=Das Mauermuseum-Betriebs gGmbH, Berlin|url=https://www.northdata.de/Das+Mauermuseum-Betriebs+gGmbH,+Berlin/Amtsgericht+Charlottenburg+(Berlin)+HRB+192988+B|access-date=2021-01-07|website=www.northdata.de|language=de}} and the director is Alexandra Hildebrandt.
History
The Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August is an association named after the date the Berlin Wall was constructed. It was formed with the purpose to fight against human rights violations as a result of the wall, and to create solutions through activities such as press conferences, publishing, and exhibitions.{{Cite web |url=https://www.firmenwissen.de/az/firmeneintrag/10969/2010178455/ARBEITSGEMEINSCHAFT_13_AUGUST.html |title=Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August, Berlin - Firmenauskunft |website=FirmenWissen |access-date=2018-02-02}} The museum project began as an exhibition by founding director and human rights activist Rainer Hildebrandt. According to Hildebrandt: "The first exhibition opened on the 19 October 1962 in an apartment with only two and a half rooms in famous Bernauer Straße. The street was divided along its whole length; the buildings in the east had been vacated and their windows were bricked up. We suggested that tourists be thankful to those border guards who do not shoot to kill".{{cite web|url=http://www.mauermuseum.de/english/frame-index-mauer.html |title=Origins - Development - Future |website=Mauermuseum - Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924095303/http://www.mauermuseum.de/english/frame-index-mauer.html |archive-date=24 September 2010}}
On 14 June 1963, the museum opened in its permanent location on Friedrichstraße, known as Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. The Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August e. V. was formally registered with the city as a Verein (association) on 16 July 1963.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ipx49bYIaVMC&q=%22Arbeitsgemeinschaft+13.+August%22 |title=Amtsblatt für Berlin - Jahrgang 1963 |trans-title=Official Gazette for Berlin|publisher=Kultur-Buch-Verlag |year=1963 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=898 |language=de}} The museum in its early days was known for its jumbled and chaotic exhibition style, with many objects and relics displayed without the usual organization of a conventional museum.{{Cite book |title=Wall memorials and heritage : the heritage industry of Berlin's Checkpoint Charlie |last=Frank |first=Sybille |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=9781315768908 |location=New York, NY |oclc=953692087 |at=sec. 3.1, 3.3.2, 5.3}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/18/travel/travel-advisory-correspondent-s-report-at-checkpoint-charlie-a-museum-remembers.html |title=TRAVEL ADVISORY: CORRESPONDENT'S REPORT; At Checkpoint Charlie, A Museum Remembers |last=Kinzer |first=Stephen |date=18 December 1994 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=7 March 2018}} It was also a political center, and actively involved in planning and assisting escapes. It featured a library, films, lectures, and a publishing operation.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the corresponding considerable reduction in its public grant money, under the leadership of Alexandra Hildebrandt the museum evolved into a private undertaking, which "reinvented the former political center as a 'place of experience.'" It operated, in the words of Hildebrandt, "according to business principles",{{Cite web |url=https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/ex-mitarbeiter-des-mauermuseums-erheben-vorwuerfe-gegen-die-leitung--wir-arbeiteten-in-angst-und-schrecken--16555700 |title=Ex-Mitarbeiter des Mauermuseums erheben Vorwürfe gegen die Leitung "Wir arbeiteten in Angst und Schrecken" |last1=Engel |first1=M. |last2=Konnerth |first2=D. |date=21 November 1998 |website=Berliner Zeitung |language=de |access-date=2018-03-10}} soon earning seven-digit profits{{Cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-21411070.html |title=Goldener Lebensabend |last1=Wensierski |first1=Peter |last2=Wiest |first2=Sandra |date=9 February 2002 |website=Der Spiegel |language=de |access-date=2018-03-28}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.taz.de/!1902583/ |title=Haus am Scheckpoint Charlie |last=Gessler |first=Philipp |date=7 January 2005 |website=TAZ |language=de |access-date=2018-03-28}} and becoming the most commercially successful museum in Europe.{{Cite web |url=https://www.taz.de/!1125721/ |title=Kontrollen am Checkpoint |last=Kunzemann |first=Thilo |date=14 February 2002 |website=TAZ |language=de |access-date=2018-03-10}} In 2002, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August gave up its charitable status and thus its remaining grants and tax breaks.
It is now one of the most frequently visited museums in Berlin, with more than 850,000 visitors annually.[http://www.berlin.de/landespressestelle/archiv/2009/11/13/145973/ Gedenkstätten und zeitgeschichtliche Museen bleiben im Aufwärtstrend] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612104322/http://www.berlin.de/landespressestelle/archiv/2009/11/13/145973/ |date=June 12, 2011 }} State of Berlin, 13 November 2009. {{in lang|de}}{{cite web |url=https://www.berlin.de/kultur-und-tickets/fotos/museen/3330978-1887517.gallery.html?page=8 |title=Top 10: Die meist besuchten Museen - Platz 4: Mauermuseum – Haus am Checkpoint Charly |website=berlin.de |date=2014-02-20 |access-date=2017-08-16 |language=de |archive-date=16 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816192344/https://www.berlin.de/kultur-und-tickets/fotos/museen/3330978-1887517.gallery.html?page=8 |url-status=dead }} In recent years, the museum has continued to add to its exhibitions on the international struggle for human rights, bringing attention to the cases of Sergei Magnitsky and others.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2011/11/checkpoint-charlie-museum-thor-halvorssen/?pg=3 |title=Checkpoint Charlie Museum - One man's heroic determination to fight tyranny with truth |last=Halvorssen |first=Thor |date=9 November 2011 |website=National Review Online |access-date=2018-03-07}}{{Cite web |url=https://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/berlin-exhibit-explores-magnitsky-case/ |title=Berlin Exhibit Explores Magnitsky Case |last=Trice |first=Emilie |date=28 November 2011 |website=The New York Times |access-date=2018-03-07}}
In 2004, Alexandra Hildebrandt installed the Freedom Memorial to the victims of the border forces, in a nearby empty lot. The memorial was removed the following year, after the lease on the land was terminated by the owner. Both the memorial and its removal were the subjects of some criticism and controversy.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/25/world/europe/memorial-to-berlin-wall-victims-divides-the-city-again.html |title=Memorial to Berlin Wall Victims Divides the City Again |last=Bernstein |first=Richard |date=25 December 2004 |website=The New York Times |access-date=2018-01-26}}[http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/mauermahnmal-abgerissen/622252.html Checkpoint Charlie: Mauermahnmal abgerissen] Harald Rohde, Der Tagesspiegel, 5 July 2005. {{in lang|de}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4730106|title=Berlin Council Targets 'Checkpoint Charlie' Memorial|last=James|first=Kyle|date=5 July 2005|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-01-26|language=en}}
Main exhibitions
- The wall from 13 August 1961 to its fall is an exhibition of photographs, writing, and objects, documenting the Berlin Wall and escapes across it, during the time it stood.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mauermuseum.de/img/flyer_mhacc_eng.pdf |title=Mauermuseum - Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (museum flyer) |website=Mauermuseum - Haus am Checkpoint Charlie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623033133/http://www.mauermuseum.de/img/flyer_mhacc_eng.pdf |archive-date=23 June 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=2018-02-02 }}
- The Berlin from front-line city to bridge of Europe exhibition shows the history of divided Berlin, following World War II to its reunification.
Further exhibitions and events
- From Gandhi to Walesa Non-violent struggle for human rights exhibition portrays non-violent protests around the world, and how similar methods were used in Germany.
- NATO Mission for Freedom is a new permanent exhibition focusing on international and diplomatic contexts opened in March, 2012. NATO General Secretary Anders F. Rasmussen visited the exhibition in May, 2012.{{Cite web|url=http://www.diplomatisches-magazin.de/international-relations-06-2012-de/A5/|title=Vom Kanzleramt zum Mauermuseum|last=Schmidt|first=Tanja|date=June 2012|website=www.diplomatisches-magazin.de|language=de|access-date=2018-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127143257/https://www.diplomatisches-magazin.de/international-relations-06-2012-de/A5/|archive-date=27 January 2018|url-status=dead}}
- The Ronald Reagan exhibition is a celebration of President Reagan's life and work, and his contribution to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.
- Raoul Wallenberg lives is a new permanent exhibition on the life and work of Raoul Wallenberg that opened in 2012.{{Cite web|url=https://www.diplomatisches-magazin.de/international-relations-03-2012-en/A2/|title="Raoul Wallenberg lives" at the Mauermuseum|last=Schmidt|first=Tanja|date=March 2012|website=www.diplomatisches-magazin.de|language=en|access-date=2018-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126191052/https://www.diplomatisches-magazin.de/international-relations-03-2012-en/A2/|archive-date=26 January 2018|url-status=dead}}
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky exhibition: Mikhail Khodorkovsky held a press conference upon his release in December 2013 at the museum. He gave thanks to the media, former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, and German chancellor Angela Merkel for their assistance in securing his release.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dw.com/en/khodorkovsky-expresses-thanks-to-germany-the-media/a-17316478 |title=Khodorkovsky expresses thanks to Germany, the media |date=22 December 2013 |website=Deutsche Welle |access-date=2018-01-27}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.khodorkovsky.com/transcript-of-mikhail-khodorkovskys-open-press-conference-in-berlin-2/ |title=Transcript of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Open Press Conference in Berlin |date=6 January 2014 |website=Khodorkovsky |publisher=MBK IP Limited |access-date=2018-03-29}}{{cite web|access-date=2018-01-27|title=Putin Critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Berlin|url=http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1069758|website=CNN iReport}} He expressed gratitude to the museum for hosting the press conference and for providing moral support in relation to its exhibition section about his situation, while he was imprisoned. According to museum director Alexandra Hildebrandt, it was she who in 2011 encouraged Genscher to become involved in the diplomatic efforts to release Khodorkovsky.{{Cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-khodorkovsky/inside-germanys-campaign-to-free-khodorkovsky-idUSBRE9BP0C420131226 |title=Inside Germany's campaign to free Khodorkovsky |last1=Martin |first1=Michelle |last2=Kelly |first2=Lidia |date=26 December 2013 |website=Reuters |access-date=2018-03-29}}
- Nadiya Savchenko exhibition: The museum installed an exhibition of the works of Nadiya Savchenko in 2016, and helped in the efforts to secure her release from prison.{{cite web|title=Berlin zeigt Kunst von ukrainischer Pilotin Nadja Sawtschenko|url=http://www.bz-berlin.de/kultur/kunst/berlin-zeigt-kunst-von-ukrainischer-pilotin-nadja-sawtschenko |website=B.Z. Berlin |publisher=Berliner Zeitung|language=de}}
Quotation
{{quote|We can also call ourselves the first museum of international nonviolent protest. Our exhibits include: The Charta 77 typewriter, the hectograph of the illegal periodical "Umweltblätter" ("Environmental Pages"), Mahatma Gandhi's diary and sandals and from Elena Bonner the death mask of her partner Andrei Sakharov.|Rainer Hildebrandt|"Origins - Development - Future", from mauermuseum.de}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons|Checkpoint Charlie#Mauermuseum|Checkpoint Charlie Museum}}
External links
- [http://www.mauermuseum.de/en/start/ Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie]
- [http://architectuul.com/architecture/checkpoint-charlie-museum Checkpoint Charlie Museum] on [http://architectuul.com Architectuul]
- [http://www.dw.com/en/berlins-checkpoint-charlie-museum/a-37985583 Documentary video] by Deutsche Welle Euromaxx
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{{Berlin Wall}}
{{Visitor attractions in Berlin}}
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Category:Museums established in 1962
Category:Buildings and structures in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg